When God sends the priest and prophet Samuel to anoint a successor to King Saul, Saul is actually still the reigning monarch! But God knows that it will be important to get Saul’s successor established in the hearts of the people before that transition is to take place, and so Samuel is sent to Jesse of Bethlehem, for one of Jesse’s sons is to be anointed future King of Israel. Once Samuel arrives, God tells him not to judge according to physical appearance; it is not the sons of lofty stature whom God chooses, but the ruddy youth David. Not as man sees does God see, God tells Samuel, for man sees the appearance, but the Lord looks into the heart. Once he is named King, David will rely upon God’s vision and wisdom to get him through dark days and keep him on right paths: The Lord is David’s shepherd, Psalm 23 reminds us. There is no better reason to see clearly than to recognize God as the source of all help in our lives.
Although it is ostensibly the man born blind who is healed when Jesus anoints him with mud in John’s Gospel, in fact, the story is about the possibility of recovering vision on the part of each person who enters into Jesus’ orbit. The blind man does not seek out Jesus; Jesus’ disciples ask simply, Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents? and that question is enough to prompt Jesus to intervene to heal him. The parents of the man come to know the truth: we know that this is our son and that he was born blind, they admit. Jesus will later tell the formerly blind man, I came into this world so that those who do not see might see. But the Pharisees refuse to see with God’s vision; they remain blind in their sin, judging by appearances rather than seeing as God sees. They refuse to see the truth that stands right before them.
If we accept new life in Christ, then we must and will, as St. Paul tells the Ephesians, live as children of the light, enlightened by the truth of Christ’s death and rising, and revealing that truth to our world. God often works to reveal the truth to us in new and challenging ways. How willing are we to see beyond what we know for certain? How open are we to the truth of our sacramental life in Christ? And once we see that truth, how can we do anything but reveal it in love to all we encounter, that we might build up the Body of Christ, the community that, since the pandemic, has become so precious to us all?
This post is based on Fr. Pat’s first Scripture class via Zoom, March 19, 2020.
Image source: www.wordclouds.com
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